William Gottlieb Biography

Born William Paul Gottlieb, January 28, 1917, in New York, NY; died of
complications from a stroke, April 23, 2006, in Great Neck, NY.
Photographer, jazz writer, and children's book author. William
Gottlieb considered himself a jazz writer. As such, he spent many nights
holed up in New York City jazz clubs during the 1940s, taking in music for
the jazz reviews he wrote for the
Washington Post
and
Down Beat
magazine. Along the way, he began taking photos to accompany his words
and went on to become one of the most renowned jazz photographers of all
time. Gottlieb's extraordinary photos document an era of the
greatest faces of jazz—from divas Billie Holiday and Ella
Fitzgerald to saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
The images are now widely respected as one of the greatest collections of
jazz history. According to the
Los Angeles Times
, jazz critic Whitney Balliett, writing in the
New Yorker
, complimented Gottlieb by saying, "Gottlieb was not taking
pictures; he was photographing a music. Again and again, he catches the
precise moment when the musician's face is suffused with effort and
emotion and beauty; the music is
there
…."

Gottlieb was born on January 28, 1917, in the Brooklyn borough of New York
City, though he grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey, where his father ran a
lumber and coal business. He studied economics at Pennsylvania's
Lehigh University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest
undergraduate honors
organization in the United States. Gottlieb was first introduced to jazz
during his sophomore year at college while recovering from trichinosis, an
intestinal disease he contracted from eating undercooked pork. For weeks,
Gottlieb lay in bed with nothing to do. A friend began bringing him jazz
records to pass the time and Gottlieb was soon smitten with the music of
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

After regaining his strength, Gottlieb returned to Lehigh and began
writing a jazz column for the
Lehigh Review
. He graduated in 1938 and worked at the
Washington Post
, selling ads. In time, he persuaded the editor to let him write a weekly
jazz column, which he called "Swing Sessions." Initially, a
Post
photographer tagged along to take pictures, but the paper decided this
was too costly since most shows started so late at night that the
photographers racked up excessive overtime hours.

Not to be discouraged, Gottlieb decided he could take his own photos. He
purchased a camera, read the manual, and gleaned a few basic tips from the
Post
photographers. The
Post
paid Gottlieb for his weekly column but not for the photos. For Gottlieb,
the focus always remained on the writing. He intended the photos to
complement his words but never really fussed over the process. In fact,
Gottlieb took only a few photos of each subject at a time because he could
not afford the flashbulbs.

In 1941, Gottlieb left the
Post
to pursue graduate work in economics at the University of Maryland,
though he kept writing his column. He left the university, however, when
administrators balked at his suggestion of adding a jazz class to his
teaching repertoire. Officials feared such a class might pay excessive
tribute to black people. This being the period before the Civil Rights
movement, such an idea was unheard of. Gottlieb left the university over
the rift and secured a job at the Office of Price Administration, at the
time part of the U.S. Office for Emergency Management. Shortly thereafter,
he was drafted to serve in the Army Air Corps and worked as an aerial
photographer during World War II, further honing his photography skills.

After the war, Gottlieb worked as a writer, editor, and photographer for
Down Beat
magazine. His photos appeared on the cover with regularity, though as
before at the
Post
, he was only paid for his writing. Gottlieb also began publishing his
articles and accompanying photos in other publications such as
Collier's, The Saturday Review
and
The Record Changer
. His photographs created a buzz and his wife suggested he quit writing to
focus on picture-taking; he declined. By 1948, Gottlieb had turned
completely away from the music scene. According to the
Washington Post
, Gottlieb later told one of its reporters that he decided to quit writing
about and photographing jazz musicians because he felt interest in the
musical genre had peaked and he, himself, felt done with the work.
"I'm fairly square—I like baroque music—and
the glamour and fascination of working with these musicians kind of wore
off. I don't smoke or drink, let alone do marijuana, so I was often
the only sober guy in the gathering. It was fascinating for a long time
but I had enough. I never looked back."

Gottlieb went on to produce educational filmstrips for University Films
and later, McGraw-Hill. Topics included "How to Set a Table"
and "Space Flight." He also became a children's book
author, writing 1952's
Laddie and the Little Rabbit
, 1954's
Laddie, the Superdog
and 1956's
Pal and Peter
.

In 1979, Gottlieb's photos crept back into the music world's
consciousness when he published 200 of his pictures in a collection titled
The Golden Age of Jazz
. The book, which he compiled at the urging of a neighbor who ran a
Manhattan bookstore, has been through 12 printings. Since then, multitudes
of record sleeves, CD cases and jazz book covers have included
Gottlieb's images. In 1998,
Down Beat
awarded Gottlieb a lifetime achievement in jazz award.

One of Gottlieb's most famous photos shows the female singer
Holiday, in 1947, open-mouthed in front of the microphone, hitting a note
in anguish. Gottlieb's collection also includes a shot of
Gillespie's goo-goo eyes fixed on Fitzgerald. His crisp, black and
white photos resonate with viewers because Gottlieb had an uncanny ability
to capture not only his subjects, but also the fervor of their love for
music. In 1994, the U.S. Postal Service reproduced Gottlieb's
images of Parker, Holiday, Mildred Bailey, and Jimmy Rushing for a series
of stamps. Gottlieb's archive—1,700 photos strong—now
belongs to the Library of Congress.

Gottlieb died on April 23, 2006, at his home in Great Neck, New York, of
complications related to a stroke. He was 89. Survivors include his wife
of more than 60 years, Delia Potofsky Gottlieb; a daughter, three sons,
six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.